Whoa!

THE GUYS have worked hard to be fair, honest and thoughtful when writing all of our posts. That’s been our trademark since we launched this site. And that’s what has attracted our readers to us.

But we also don’t believe difficult topics should be ignored, as you read in our three posts about “Cheating.” We offered three different perspectives coming from three different sets of experiences. A tough topic indeed, but one that invited positive dialogue and resulted in many questions submitted to us.

This is what we’re about. Creating a forum for discussion that lends itself to growth and understanding. But it doesn’t always work out that way based on the comments section in our most recent post. (We pulled it. A business decision, not an editorial one.)

Differing opinions, even when direct, harsh, strong or unadulterated are part of all of us. We don’t have to look further than Washington to witness this in its full blown glory. If you turn on the TV or radio, or pick up a paper or magazine, you’ll see it. It’s everywhere. It’s part of us. We have opinions, strong opinions and we all want to voice them.

We stand behind our guest writers. They brought a topic to our attention that we thought might be interesting to explore, so we gave our opinion and offered space for our two guests to give their opinions. Their opinions were different than ours, but we felt it was a good thing for our readers to get a taste of varying perspectives. Isn’t it better to be in the know, than not?

The last thing we’ll say is, guys in general have been called every name in the book. Meathead, bozo, dickhead, asshole, etc. We’ve been stereotyped in every sitcom as lazy, not very good at listening and not in touch with our feelings. We laugh right along with these jokes because even though we’re guys, that’s NOT US! Somehow we always have the sense it’s the other guy they’re making fun of.

The Prom

Today is part two of our miniseries, where we not only stroll down memory lane, but also give props to many of the sites we’ve grown to love over this past year. These Blogs in particular, focus on dating, relationships and other related topics such as self-esteem self-actualization and self-motivation. Hope you’ll explore and enjoy them.

Part three will be coming soon.

From: “One of The Guys”

Where I went to school, there were only two proms; a junior high prom (7th-9th grade) and a senior prom. Expectations were huge for both proms, but I can only speak for the guys. It was the night where we hoped inhibitions might be cast aside, at least for one special night, and maybe we’d somehow convince our date, usually our girlfriend, to go where she had never gone before.

But it wasn’t like that for me. Far from it.

In 9th grade I started dating a very nice girl probably around May. So it was a “no brainer” that I would be going with her to the Prom……Well, ah.., NO!! She had already committed to a friend of hers, not a boyfriend, and she felt that she should keep that commitment. She was a lot more mature that most of the people at the school and she probably did the right thing, but not necessarily something that most 9th graders would have done. And to me, it was a drag.

So I ended up going with a close friend of mine who also didn’t have a date and we had a good time. But it was awkward seeing my girlfriend dancing to “Stairway to Heaven” and “Freebird” with another guy. And the night, while fun, never turned into that magical night that I had dreamed about.

My junior year in high school I started dating a senior in the spring. I have no idea why she liked me because her previous boyfriend had been the captain of the football team, but she did. So we started dating.

At this point, I was still pretty green, but she wasn’t, which made the whole thing even more baffling to me. I was like a human playing with a vampire, which honestly scared the crap out of me, even though I liked it too. We were still together in June, so she asked me to go to the senior prom. Wow! All THE GUYS thought I was THE MAN! (If they only knew.)

Once again the anticipation grew and grew. However, I wasn’t steering this ship. It was clear she was in charge, picking the color of my tux, the restaurant we ate at and the after hour party we attended. I was like a stick adrift on a river, just merrily floating to and fro. But this is where it gets blurry for me. Somehow the night just went from bad to worse and we ended up breaking up. Seriously!! We broke up on Prom night! And looking back on it, I’m sure she was still in love with this former captain of the football team who had arrived home from college the week before. I found out later, he had been wooing her since he arrived. Who could resist, right? (Sarcasm)

But I rebounded fast from that traumatic evening. And of course, I still had my senior prom to go to. That was going to be great!

Well the spring came around and I was single, having broken up with a girl in February. But as luck would have it, I started dating a great girl in May and now I had a date. Phew, close one!!

Ahhh….NO!!!…………Deja vu……my girlfriend had already committed to going with someone else and once again she felt she should honor that commitment. What is up with these girls!!!???

So now I had no date………Well…….. (And you’re gonna love this)

My 9th grade prom date, as I mentioned before had moved away to Texas in 10th grade. However, she kept in touch with a lot of people from our high school still, and her girlfriends told me she would be back in town during our prom. They said I should ask her because she would love to go. And since I didn’t have a date, I thought it sounded like a good idea.

I don’t need to go into details. We had fun. And I was glad I went. But really, let’s be honest. I’m pretty sure I’m the only guy on the planet that this happened to…….. TWICE!

Decaffeinated Coffee

Here is a guest comic strip we wrote for Decaffeinated Coffee. The comic strip is drawn by the very talented Chuck Harrison. Today’s post is our recent collaboration.
Check out more of Chuck’s great work on his website, DC Strip.

Grandpa and Holidays

THE GUYS want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

“ONE of THE GUYS” wrote a poem in remembrance of his grandfather. Yes it’s a bit melancholy, but it’s a reminder to us all to try and enjoy every moment in our lives. Sure we have good days and bad days, but when it comes down to it, what we do is so much less important than whom we do it with. So this poem is a reminder to remember the people in our lives who are no longer with us. But also a reminder to enjoy the people who are with us today.

Have a great turkey day!

THE GUYS

We asked a dear friend of ours to illustrate this poem for us. Her talent and generosity graces us. For more work by TJ Lubrano, please go to her site. We understand she creates unique birthday cards, holiday cards and other illustrations.

Grandpa and Holidays

Holidays are supposed to be
The finest time of year
With everyone a smiling
And singing loud and clear

Cheerful faces giggling
Best friends holding hands
Giving and receiving
All throughout the lands

But holidays are hard for me
They remind me of the past
When my Grandpa was alive
Blessing us with laughs

So when everyone is glad
Or for now at least pretending
I am feeling really blue
‘Cause my heart is still a mending

Blogger Award

We want to thank Askcherlock for giving us a Best Blogger award. We are honored and thrilled to receive this. If you’re looking for intelligent, honest and biting commentary on politics definitely check them out! We read them everyday!

So the idea is, in accepting this award we also need to pass it on to some of our favorite bloggers. And of course they in turn will pass it on to some of their favorite bloggers. And so on!! Fifteen seems to be the number that everyone is agreeing on, so here are fifteen of our favorite blogs, in no particular order, that we’d like to bestow the Best Blogger award to.

Check out these great sites!

We hope you are all having a great weekend. THE GUYS have been adjusting to our fall schedules so we've been a bit distracted around here. We THINK we have it together now, so we'll be resuming our normal correspondence with our friends in the blogging community and beyond. But today we're still piecing things together. So we recommend you visit some of these great blogs while we iron out the kinks.

We're also responding in our way to the few awards we've received from friends. We're not the best at the technology aspect of things, so we'll just put links with our comments.

The Boyfriend: Defined (More Guest Writers)

Dear Readers,

Here are four more definitions of "Boyfriend" that you may not have seen. Click on the individual links to read more great posts by each guest.

THE GUYS

BOYFRIEND DEFINED:

The term
boyfriend can have many different meanings – the common denominator
involves dating a male who you are romantically involved with to
varying degrees. Sometimes the accent may be on the word 'boy' -as in
the fact that he's not mature enough to consider for anything more
serious than fun dating. In other cases the relationship may be
monogamous and a step towards a different role (fiance, life partner,
husband. etc). Some people have lived with a guy for 25 years, have
children with them, share property ownership – and still refer to them
as their 'boyfriend'.

THE GUYS RESPOND: We shall always be boys at heart. But hopefully we'll grow up at some point. Or maybe not!!

Almost
every gal takes a chance with a bad guy until we realize they really
are BAD, as in not good for us, as in yes they will hurt your soul and
break your heart. But then, don't many guys like those trashy girls and
then get surprised when they cheat?

The Boyfriend: Defined (Guest Writer)

Dear Friends,

Last week we defined "Girlfriend" for you. And we asked you to submit your own definition of girlfriend and boyfriend.

Scroll down to last week's post to read our definitions.

Well today we are posting the most complete definition of boyfriend yet. Our guest today is Ethel Mae Potter, one of our friends in the blogging community. Her definition of boyfriend is so emasculating we had to post it for you. Ladies enjoy it. Men, brace yourselves.

From this woman's perspective, The Boyfriend is, quite simply, the
husband in training. Having The Boyfriend allows The Girlfriend to show
the world that she is desirable as future wife material. Dates are
merely the testing and training grounds for eventual marriage. One date
only with a Boy means that he has none of the qualities one desires in
a husband. Two to four dates means that he has potential, but
apparently can not, or will not be taught, and, regrettably must be
dumped. More than four dates strikes gold. The Boyfriend must be
strong, must love children and animals, be willing to sit through chick
flicks, and be supportive, but never clingy. He should dress well, but
never, ever outshine The Girlfriend. He must have a good sense of
humor, but refrain from lewd comments and off-color jokes. He is
someone The Girlfriend is proud to introduce to her friends and must
never, never, NEVER embarrass her in their presence. He needn't be the
most handsome guy on the planet, nor the best built, but he should
present himself in his best possible light. Every once in a great
while, he may look a slob, but this is only so that The Girlfriend may
scold him, wherein he must be properly apologetic and allow her to "fix
him up."
The Boyfriend should have a good job, or at least, the potential for a
good job, and ambition is a definite plus. If that ambition involves
guitars and strobe lights and fog machines on a stage, The Girlfriend
should realize that The Boyfriend may never grow up, and The
Relationship must be properly scrutinized. If he has met every other
criteria, he may still be acceptable, but The Girlfriend will find ways
to push him into a more lucrative ambition.
The Boyfriend is a credit to The Girlfriend and will be properly
rewarded when she sees fit. And the rewards will be great, and well
worth the time and effort The Boyfriend puts into their relationship.